support them. and here's the kicker, the whole incident took place in the gallery where the feature exhibit is devoted to gertrude stein. "cnn newsroom" continues with brooke boaldwin. a breaking story out of norway. a devastating and deadly attack in the capital city of oslo. and i want to show you some of these pictures. this is heart-wrenching to watch. people rushing away from these blasts. this is the heart of the downtown tower center. people scattering, running scared after a massive blast took out the windows of several government buildings. inside one of those buildings, the prime minister's office. we are being told he was not there at the time. but as of this very second, here's the latest number we have. seven, at least seven people are reported dead, and many more injured. in what oslo's mayor is calling a terrible day for norway.

police are urging folks to stay off their cell phones just in order to keep those networks free so some of the people in the area can call their loved ones, call their family, tell them they're okay. but on top of all this, a person dressed up as a policeman walked into this youth camp attended by 700 people and just opened fire. everything is unfolding as we speak. i want to go to nima. bring us up to speed as far as what's happened. does the number seven fatalities, does that number even still hold? >> our understanding, brooke, is that death toll will definitely rise. emergency services have said that they still are unable to fully access the buildings around that initial blast. one of the government spokes people said that although today was a national holiday, hundreds of people were in those buildings. and they continue to be trapped in there. they are unable to reach those people as of yet.

and on the island, a labor party spokesman, the ruling party in norway said that they had seen a panic on the island. many of them there are ages 15 to 25. and some tried to swim to safety, brooke. >> you mentioned something, that at least it gives us a sliver of encouraging news. the fact that it is a national holiday. i do know, though, as you've been reporting, there are people still trapped inside some of those buildings who were still at work. do we have any estimate, nima as far as how many people are still in there? >> well, the police are really reticent to speculate. they're worried about inflaming that panic. but, you know, they're also concerned not only about those who are stuck in the buildings, brooke. they're also concerned there might actually be further blasts. they're attempting to keep that downtown area clear.

a police spokesman has said all they can do is issue warnings and hope people will stay away from the center of town. not only for this evening, brooke, but throughout the weekend. they said that the safest place for people tonight is in their homes. >> do you even know yet if this explosion or explosions was detonated from within a building? or are we hearing that possibly it was a car bomb in the street? >> well, eyewitnesss have said that they saw an incredibly mangled car, which would fit with how a car would look if it had been used to detonate that kind of explosion. those who say they saw it believe it couldn't possibly have happened from the blast. but it was such a big explosion, brooke, that most people's recollection of it is pretty shaken. the police say they're trying to get bomb experts down there on the scene as quickly as possible to deal with that forensic evidence. because the m.o. they believe will help point to what kind of an organization could've

triggered this attack. but at the moment, we've heard many conflicting reports. some eyewitnesss say they believe that bomb could've actually been inside the lobby of the building where the prime minister's office was. but all still incredibly unclear at the moment, brooke. >> still, nima, still no one coming forward claiming responsibility for this? >> not at the moment. we've seen a lot of chatter on a lot of the pro-jihad forums. you can appreciate they see this as reason to celebrate. many are saying this was in revenge for the bin laden killing. but no one actually definitively claiming responsibility. a lot of the intelligence sources i've been speaking to say they believe this is the kind of attack that something like al qaeda in the arabian peninsula from yemen have been attempting to pull off over the last few years. they had the aborted attack on the cargo plane headed for the u.s., another attack in 2009. they've been trying very hard to hit european or u.s. soil. and the belief is that this could have been because norway,

the security set-up in norway is not as stringent as something you would have had in the uk or in the u.s. but this is all just speculation. you know, nothing concrete, which can only add to that sense of panic that people are feeling this evening, brooke. >> well, certainly the possibility of terrorism also a concern because of the ongoing threat as you mentioned from al qaeda to potentially target europe. but, you know, i've been reading from different eyewitnesss, and a lot of people seem to agree that events like this don't happen in oslo. normally calm, peaceful. you know largely free of terrorism city. >> well, more recently, there has been increasing -- there's been an increasing sense of insecurity. because you've had a lot of the spillover from the danish cartoon controversy. a norwegian newspaper reprinted those cartoons depicting the prophet in a way that many muslims found offensive. and they reprinted it in 2006

and also reprinted it again last year. and after that, norwegian authorities managed to apprehend three al qaeda-affiliated suspects who were trying to attack the danish newspaper. that had started all this. so in recent years, although perhaps it hasn't really been on the radar so much for the rest of the world, there is a sense in norway -- and actually there was even a norwegian intelligent report earlier this year that warned against an increased security risk. so definitely amongst the intelligence community in norway, this is something they've been worried about. but it doesn't seem to have spilled over in terms of their security arrangements. for someone to be able to come right up in that road in the center of government outside the prime minister's office and park a car would be unthinkable in, you know, at 10 downing street or in washington. so for that to be able to happen, definitely there are a lot of questions being asked this evening, brooke. >> standby, we'll certainly come back to you as you get more information. nima, my thanks to you.

and within the past half hour or so, we did hear from president obama certainly expressing his own deep concern about the events unfolding in norway. i want to play just a piece of sound. here he is speaking from the white house. >> it's a reminder that the entire national community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring. and that we have to work cooperatively together both on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks. i remember fondly my visits to oslo and how warmly the people of norway treated me. and so our hearts go out to them. and we'll provide any support we can to them. >> our terrorism analyst is standing by from london. and paul, i want to hit you right up with this. why norway? why would terrorists target the ska ska

scandinavian country? >> zawahiri the now leader of al qaeda issued a threat against norway, singled norway out. it's in afghanistan, it's part of nato. it republished the images of the prophet mohammed, which originally were published in a danish newspaper some years back. so many years why a group like al qaeda and other jihadist groups may want to come after a country like norway, brooke. >> i don't know if you were able to hear nima, but she was describing to me that some eyewitnesss there on the streets described a mangled car, perhaps the bomb, perhaps a car bomb. she also said perhaps it was inside the lobby of the building that housed the prime minister. as we said, he wasn't there at the time. this kind of thing would never happen on 10 downing street, but it's happening here in oslo. what do you make of the level of sophistication of the bomb? >> i think we're talking about a relatively high level of sophistication here. the carnage recalls the theme in

1998 of the u.s. african embassies that were targeted by al qaeda. this was a huge bomb that was exploded today. it seems to have killed, unfortunately, significant amount of people. also, coordinated attacks it seems today whether they may have been taking out the political leadership of norway, as well. but it bears all the hallmarks of the al qaeda terrorist organization at the moment. but we don't know at this point who was responsible, brooke. >> you know, after osama bin laden's death, there were islamic extremists who came forward and said there will be retaliation, there will be revenge, we will be coming back. might this be a manifestation of that threat? >> it's possibly that this is in some way related to that. and in norway, in recent months, there have been increased terrorist threat activity chatter that norwegian counterterrorism services have been monitoring. they've also been, i understand, monitoring a group of individuals in norway with suspected links to al qaeda, possibly al qaeda in pakistan.

these investigations have been ongoing. what is not clear is whether there's any relation of this attack today, brooke. >> how should the world community react to this? how should security change in oslo? >> well, to try and prevent this from happening again. until we understand who is actually responsible for this, obviously it's early to talk about responses. burr if it is indeed al qaeda, then greater steps against al qaeda will need to be taken. they have a safe haven right now in pakistan where they're still able to train operatives, including norwegian residents. and arrested last year in norway and suspected of being involved in a plot over there. so the response if it is al qaeda will have to increase, brooke. >> right. and then again, no one has thus far come forward claiming responsibility, but it does have the makings, as you mentioned, of that terrorist organization. thank you very much.

coming up next, we'll speak with someone on the ground in oslo on the exact same street where that explosion happened. he says his office felt like it contracted and then expanded. the windows you saw from the shattered glass blown all throughout the building. that is next. plus this -- >> in 2010, americans chose a divided government. but they didn't choose a dysfunctional government. >> but right now, a dysfunctional government is exactly what we're getting. you know the deal, time's ticking on america's debt ceiling, and washington is no closer to a deal. will either side give in here? i'll speak with a republican lawmaker coming up next. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the jetta, awarded a top safety pick by the iihs. that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month.

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breaking news out of norway today. two deadly terror attacks. at least seven people are dead in this massive bombing in the city center of oslo. and outside the capital, a person dressed up as a policeman opened fire at this youth camp run by the nation's ruling party. police say several people there were injured, as well. obviously by the looks of these pictures, the situation dire, chaotic. oslo's mayor calling this "a terrible day for norwegians." joining me by phone, the connection here isn't great. a lot of people on their cell phones, i realize i may lose you. what did the blast feel like? did you feel it in your chest? >> yeah, it was -- the pressure wave was intense. the sound was also just so loud and the pressure wave pushed and pulled. and it was just surreal. >> describe the next few moments

after this blast occurred. what were people doing in your office? your office is on the exact same street of where this all happened. >> yeah, we were like four or five people at work at the time. so we got up and tried to check the to see if everyone was okay. went through the remaining offices to make sure no one was left behind. and then we went together down to the ground floor. >> let me point out you work as an attorney for the norwegian government, you also have a passion for photography. we're going to show some of your pictures. and walk me through as we look at these scenes. looks like, ulrick, bloodied people, victims of this destruction coming off the windows. just describe these images and what sticks with you. >> well, when we came out, it was just so confusing and so surreal. people bleeding, dust

everywhere, broken glass. you were walking on piles of glass everywhere. people were walking to and fro. but most people were relatively calm. otherwise the situation was chaotic. i walked to the center of the explosion area. and the main government building was just devastated. you can see right there it on ground level. you could see from one side and straight through to the street on the other side. >> ulrik, i know it was a national holiday as you mentioned. and when you look at some of these images, there are still looks to be a number of people on the street. would i be deducing correctly had this not been a holiday, this would have been much worse? >> much, much worse. the majority of people were either on holiday or left for the weekend. so the offices were pretty empty. more of the offices facing the

blast had been occupied, this would be far, far worse. >> where are you right now? >> right now i'm 10, 15 minutes away from the city center in my home. >> in your home. had you heard sirens? was there still sense of panic in the last few minutes? or has it quelled for now? >> the center area is evacuated entirely. the police cordoned off a relatively large area around the blast. it's just rescue personnel around there right now. >> i was talking to a terrorism analyst a moment ago and he said that there has been increased chatter about -- about norway that, you know, they have been investigating militants suspected of being linked to al qaeda. do you live with a sense of fear, terrorism? is that part of your fiber as a norwegi norwegian? >> well, not at all, actually, until now. we have had some really, really minor episodes, shooting against

synagogues and things like that, but all in all, i've never experienced fear or believe that norway would be a target for such an attack. so it just makes it so surreal, so surprising. >> no fear until now, he says. thank you so much. and please stay safe. thank you so much for calling in. switching gears, moving to washington now. 11 days and counting until a potential default of the u.s. treasury. the president is calling on congress again to prevent that from happening again by approving more government borrowing. the president is pointing out bills coming out is money congress spent already. >> there are some people out there who argue we're not going to raise the debt ceiling any more. and effectively what that's saying is, we're not going to pay some of our bills. well, the united states of america doesn't run out without paying the tab.

we pay our bills. we meet our obligation. >> that was the president today in college park, maryland. but let me take you to capitol hill. harry reid has canceled plans to have the senate work all weekend long to meet all weekend. he says circumstances have changed, cites signs of progress in the debt reduction talks between the white house and john boehner. also the senate has rejected a plan promoted and passed by house republicans that would cut the national debt through spending cuts alone and would require a balanced budget amendment to the u.s. constitution. joining me now from capitol hill, representative robert goodlat. good to have you on. i want to begin with the fact that you, you were one of the drivers behind the house legislation that the senate did reject this morning. are you, sir, are you satisfied that you've had your say here and now it's down to the talks between the house speaker and the president? >> well, i think what's really important here is that the

senate in rejecting what the house did now has an obligation to work in a bipartisan fashion. if they reject the plan the house sent, which raises the debt limit as the president requested, but it also cut spending, capped spending, and leads to a balanced budget, in fact a balanced budget amendment i introduced on the first day of this congress. the senate has an obligation to produce something that the house can then negotiate with the senate on. i'm pleased that they're still having discussions at the white house, but those discussions have never resulted in anything that either the house or the senate could vote on, and the president has never put anything in writing that we could score, that we could have the people in the congressional budget office say this is how much it would cost, this is how much it would save, this is the tax proposal. whatever the proposal might be, if the president wants us to vote on it, he's got to give us something in writing. >> well, speaking of the talks as they are just talks right now as you point out between the president, between speaker boehner. do you foresee repercussions

among republicans against speaker boehner? should he cut a deal with the white house to keep the government from defaulting come august 2nd? >> no, i think that the speaker is fully aware that unlike the president who is the only elected official in the executive branch can -- that can act unilaterally and make a proposal on his own. whatever the speaker discusses with his president, he's got to bring back to the house, particularly to the republican conference, and he will then get a very clear idea whether that's something that would pass or not. so we have a lot of confidence in speaker boehner, in majority leader cantor in the negotiations they've conducted. i think they've represented our position well. but you can't judge a package until it's actually produced and brought back to the congress. and again, with the clock ticking down, it's urgent that the senate or the president put something forward. we've already voted to raise the debt limit subject to what we think the american people want. and that is cutting government spending and balancing our

budget. >> well, i don't know if you listen to the president today. i was sitting there taking notes. because he really tried to make it palatable to the americans so we understand the complicated debt talks that everyone's having day in and day out. and the president today said that your refusal to lift the debt ceiling to pay the government's bill is like -- what did he say? the u.s. doesn't run out without paying the tab, we pay our bills, we don't run out on the tab. that is pretty simple language. do you disagree with that? >> well, first i do because the house has already voted to raise the debt ceiling. we've sent that bill to the senate, the senate rejected it this morning by narrow vote, and we certainly understand the senate doesn't have to agree with the house. but if they don't agree with the house, they have to produce something else that we can deal with. and the president asked for a clean lift of the debt ceiling. one, we voted on it in the house, and it was overwhelmingly defeated. the other problem is, the bond

rating agencies, they've made it clear that not only can we not default and no one here thinks that we can default on our obligation, but not only can we not default, but we also have to put this government on a track to reducing spending or they'll lower our bond rating for that. >> i was talking to mark zani the other day from moody's. i think everyone agrees we cannot default. i do want to show you a poll. we have a poll that shows 34% of americans now agree with your position not to raise anyone's taxes to help pay down the debt. so if the government defaults -- if the government defaults, if the economy then obviously would go south, will you get the blame, congressman goodlatte, or do you assume folks will say, it must be the president's fault? >> i suspect different people will place blame in different places. but we don't want to default, we don't want to get blame, we want to get credit for doing our jobs. in fact, if the president has

that tax proposal, put that on the table. many have said in the house that if the taxes are net neutral. in other words, if the tax increases are offset with tax cuts that help the middle class, for example, dealing with the alternate minimum tax, that would be something we'd also consider. but we can't consider anything unless somebody puts it on the table. either the president or the senate. we're ready to act on whatever they send. we're ready to negotiate with the senate if they send something back in response to what we sent them. but they haven't done that, and i think that's unfortunate because we have, you know, ten days or so left to get this done. >> we do, indeed. 11 days. and as you mentioned, the talk is happening, but you want to see nit writiit in writing. and the american people want to see the details, as well. thank you show much for coming on. >> thank you, brooke. and i want to go back to our

breaking story out of norway. not going too far from that. terror attacks rocking the capital city, and also a youth camp there. but first, here at home, have you noticed? the heat is on. and if you are now just now feeling it, chances are you'll be feeling it even more so over the weekend. nearly half the country right now under an extreme heat warning. we'll take you across the country next. [ jerry ] i'm a grandfather, a retired teacher, and i count on social security. here's what i'm not... a pushover. right now, some in washington want to make a deal

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news flash, it's summertime. but the heat wave is gripping much of the east is much more than just a scorcher. perhaps you know that firsthand. it is, in fact, downright dangerous to spend too much time outside. we have a lot to get to. but first, listen to this.

>> try my best not to melt. >> oh, the heat index in washington, d.c. hit 111 degrees before noon today, making this day for walking around with a t-shirt on your head and water bottle in your hand the best way to go. it's especially dangerous for people who have to work outside. >> guys are sweating. it was heating the beams and evaporating immediately. it's hot. >> the temperature at this washington work site registered at a mind boggling 133 degrees. worse yet, people who fight fires, those brave men and women, crews in texas battling the heat from wildfires in the sun. imagine the equipment they have to wear. >> i thought it could handle the heat in texas. it intensifies it times ten when you put on the fire gear. >> temperatures in northeast texas are reaching into the triple digits again today. the heat is taking its toll also

on farm animals. >> when it's this hot, i leave my sprinklers run just to try to give them a break, and unfortunately, i know i've lost a couple to heat and i know that neighbors have lost some animals to heat. >> did you see those cows? they weren't happy either. thousands of cows, actually, and hogs have died across the midwest since this heat wave began. we are setting records in terms of power usage. >> phones ringing off the hook, this is where new york's management team measures the power grid. power outages have hit several cities. and new york is asking people to conserve as much as you can. >> it's been bad. hot, hot. >> that is louise dunlap of madison, wisconsin. she's 88, she's overheated because her air-conditioner gave up on her. the extreme heat is creating a mini economic boom for people who do this kind of work.

down the road in milwaukee, the heat wave has turned into a crime wave. there's been a rash of thefts of air-conditioners. and remember this -- >> if you know seniors. your relatives, friends, neighbors, check in on them. >> when it's this hot, the elderly and the very young are always the most at risk. everyone living in the danger zones is asked to help out. make sure your neighbors, friends, family are all right. and just because we can, just for fun, take a look at this. we love this video. we found a horse that knows exactly how to manipulate a sprinkler with his hoof. take a good long look with his right hoof. turn it on, get a drink, he's got the right idea on a day like this, doesn't he? by the way, our correspondents, we've got them in some of the hottest cities around. new york, chicago, philadelphia, washington. alison kosik, to you.

>> it's sweltering out here. it's midday right around lunchtime, and usually this area would be crowded with people, with tourists looking at the stock exchange, but today, believe it or not, the crowds are a lot thinner because it is so hot out here. even this security guard, they're getting extra water, but not shorter shifts. they get to have the short sleeves, though, that's helping. even their dogs, the dogs not here with them today, the security dogs because he's getting a break. they're even alternating the security dogs because it's so hot out here. brooke, here at the white house, the heat and humidity is literally affecting our equipment. so if you go outside with a camera, it will fog up, and that means that our photographers have to give themselves about 20 minutes before we have a live shot to help it de-fog. here at our live shot location on the lawn, we're dealing with the heat index, and also this concrete riser is raising the heat upward. and the hot tv lights don't help

either. what we're trying to do, of course, above all is stay hydrated, wear cotton, and when all else fails, my photographers have been nice enough to set up a fan down there to help me stay cool during my live shots. i'm ted rowlands in chicago where people have been dealing with sweltering heat for the past week. the temperatures well into 100, heat indexes 110 to 115 degrees. today we got a little bit of a break with a thunderstorm as the system starts to move to the east. and as bad as we feel for the folks in new york and washington, quite frankly, everybody in the midwest could use the break. i'm in philadelphia where temperatures peaked well into the triple digits. and we have one very special block that's finding a way to stay cool. >> today we opened up the fire hydrant with this giant wrench. we also have a sprinkler cap

provided by the fire department to keep the water down. we're not using a lot of water, but it's keeping everybody cool. >> i appreciate it. chad myers, i thought, gosh, we've got to get these guys outside, feeling the heat. i'm sort of enjoying the cool studio, though i would be out there with you if i had the time to make the dash. are you burning up? >> no hotlanta is not living up to the name. it's 92 heat index, the breeze is okay. but it's the sun that makes you hot. and even though we're heat index of 92, when the sun comes out and it will here before the live shot's over. we see the gray clouds, that blocks out the sun every once in a while. it gets hot, humid, and all of a sudden the sun comes out and blocks the sunshine and things cool off. it feels like 92 here, it feels like 123 on the mall in washington, d.c. 31 degrees warmer because the humidity is higher, the temp's

102. okay, it's hot. they broke records in new york, d.c., laguardia, and newark have now all broken all-time records. newark, new jersey, got to 106 last hour. that's higher than they've ever been on any other date in any other year. not just on this date, sure they broke a record today, was 101 was the record and went to 102 at noon, then they got to 106, hotter than ever, ever before on record. and that's what the people up there are dealing with. only 8,000 customers, though, coned without power right now. and that's a very good number. that's just your random transformer that blew up every once in a while. that's not bad. but you were talking earlier about these potential brown outs and blackouts. >> that's a big concern, right? because everybody's using their air-conditioning if you're fortunate enough to have it. and the electric grids getting a huge workout and may not be able to handle it all. >> they're putting out so many little recommendations that i haven't even thought about. please use your microwave today, don't use your oven in the house because the oven just comes on,

heats up the house and the air-conditioner has to work harder. microwaves don't do that. don't do any laundry until after 8:00 or 9:00 when people turn off their air-conditioners. and if you leave your apartment, turn the ac down or up to about 82 so the ac doesn't run while you're not there, turn it back down when you get home, but i'll tell you what, it's right on that strain. it's like you can just feel the strain on those wires. you can hear the buzzing on some of the wires up there in new york as all those people literally -- 150,000 megawatts or whatever they're over right now, all those things are right at their tested limits. >> hey, chad, real quickly. i don't know who your shooter is, but can you pan over to the cnn sign. are there any tourists? the good folks who come to cnn to get the tour? i'm curious to see if anyone's hanging out outside. a few people. >> two. >> one and two. that's it. >> reporter: as you look downtown, people literally are not going out.

and we heard this in new york city today. when new york city woke up this morning, the heat index was 95. people thought they were going to go outside, take a jog outside early to beat the heat, but it was already hot at 7:00 a.m. and new york city was hotter at 7:00 a.m. than it is right now in atlanta. so hotlanta doesn't cut it today. >> beautiful blue skies for you. i have one thing for that running outside, treadmill. >> treadmill on a sprinkler. >> i like that. >> not electric, though. >> thank you. and on a much more serious note. look, let's go back to our breaking story out of norway out of the capital city oslo. terror attacks rocking the capital and a youth camp nearby. also, the los angeles police department thought they had their guy, they had one man in custody. this man arrested for the brutal beating of a fan outside a dodgers game earlier this year, but it turns out they might have gotten it wrong. and now two new arrests reported in the attack of this father of two. be right back. can i have some ice cream, please ?

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all right. now to this story in california. police reportedly arrest two new suspects in a beating of a giants fan outside dodgers stadium. and the guy they thought was the suspect, well, isn't.

the "l.a. times" broke the story. remember this? giants fan brian stowe was beaten nearly to death in the dodgers stadium parking lot back in march. now, the "times" reports that stowe suffered seizures, had emergency surgery just this week though his condition had been improving just a bit before that. in may, police nabbed the guy they said did it, 31-year-old giovanni ramirez. here he is. police say -- police chief charlie beck repeatedly said ramirez was their guy, the prime suspect in the beating, but detectives were not able to conclusively link him to the crime and prosecutors held off on filing criminal charges. he was held, instead, on suspicion of violating probation from a previous conviction. fast forward to june, ramirez sent back to prison for ten months for that parole violation. let's go straight to joel reuben who was one of the writers who revealed these new arrests. good to have you back on.

you and your colleagues, you report on this, you say the police case against ramirez stalled from the start. talk to me just about the investigation that they did conduct trying to find a connection here. >> yeah. as you said, they took giovanni ramirez into custody in may. and very confidently proclaimed he was their prime suspect, the man they thought was the prime assailant in the case. they took him into custody, they did not arrest him, they did not charge him in this crime because they were working to pull together the case. and right from the get go, they were having trouble finding that hard piece of evidence that could put him at the stadium on the day of the game and link him to the attack. they looked through surveillance video, looked through financial records to see if there was an atm receipt, they looked through phone records to see if they could put him at the stadium, and they couldn't find anything that put him at the stadium and

at the attack. >> so they couldn't find those pieces of evidence to conclusively connect the dots. then last month, the police chief reassigned this investigation to the robbery/homicide division. and they now find these two new suspects. how did they do that? and what kind of evidence do they have? >> well, that is the big question we are trying to find out. the lapd has gone on a complete information shutdown on this, which is in stark contrast to what happened the first time where they were very public about it. they, you know, said this is who we have, this is who we think did it. and is, you know, they talked about eyewitnesss identifying giovanni ramirez. this time, we, you know, we heard through our sources about these arrests, but we have not gotten anything from the lapd as to what it is, what pieces of information, or what tips they got that led them to these two gentlemen. >> so ramirez' lawyer who your colleague did manage to talk to. he's always maintained his

client's innocence. in your article, he says ramirez isn't officially not a suspect. but he says if it's true, obviously he'll be happy. and i want to quote some of what you were quoting. he says there was a lot of pressure on lapd. i believe they were operating in good faith and made a good faith mistake. do you think they came under pressure and jumped the gun a little too early? >> well, i think they had reason to arrest giovanni ramirez. this was not just a name and a guy they pulled out of the blue. they had an eyewitness or two eyewitnesss, they said, who picked ramirez out of a lineup, a photographic lineup. and they went with it. whether the -- the question of whether they moved too quickly, i think it's a question more of whether they went public too quickly or whether they were too public about their confidence in their case against ramirez. people are scratching their heads saying, well, why didn't you just say we have somebody in custody and we're looking at him as a possible suspect and we'll get back to you when we know more instead of doing what they

did which was, you know, stand up there and say pretty much this is our guy and then get caught backed into a corner when they couldn't put the case together. but they didn't just pull this guy out of the blue. and i think the lawyer has been very understanding on that case. he's a very good lawyer, and he said from the start, my guy is innocent, and i don't think the lapd is being malicious here, but they have the wrong guy. >> and perhaps they now recognize that explaining the radio silence for now, just being safe. joel, thank you. and we're still all over the breaking story out of norway. massive bomb, explosion in the city center. it is a national holiday. but take a look at the video. people scattering, frightened as this happened in the 4:00 hour in the middle of this workday. we're going to have much more on the breaking story. seven reported fatalities, multiple injuries, people still stuck in some of these buildings right where the prime minister was housed.

more on that and the white house's reaction to this incident coming up next.

i want to get you back to breaking news. the coverage of the terrorist attacks in norway today. dan, we have heard from the president who was speaking during a photo op with the new zealand prime minister. what was it that he said? >> that's right, more on that in a second. but first of all, this is something the white house has been paying close attention to. the senior official pointing out that the president was briefed this morning by john brennan. as you pointed out, though, during that meeting with the president, he made his first public comments in reaction to the situation in norway. take a listen. >> i wanted to personally extend my condolences to the people of norway. and it's a reminder that the

entire international community have a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring and that we have to work cooperatively together. both with intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks. >> reporter: now the prime minister of new zealand also weighing in saying that if, in fact, this is an act of terrorism, it points out that no country no matter how small or large is immune from such a risk. brooke? >> do we know yet if barack obama has picked up the phone and reached out to the prime minister yet of norway? >> we do not know at this point. in fact, i did inquire of a senior administration official if, in fact, he plans additional briefings on this information that we're still gathering. hope to have more on that later. >> dan, always appreciate it. thank you. >> okay. still ahead, this was a scene on a new york highway this morning. really the aftermath of this horrific fire after a tractor-trailer slammed into a bus filled with tourists.

some amazing stories of heroism here. that is coming up. st. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. and i count on social security. here's what i'm not... a pushover. right now, some in washington want to make a deal cutting the social security and medicare benefits we worked for. with billions in waste and loopholes, how could they look at us? maybe we seem like an easy target... until you realize... there are 50 million of us.

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a horrible scene west of syracuse. a tractor trailer rear ended a tour bus right around 1:30 this morning. both vehicling immediately caught fire. police tell us the bus driver just pulled back on to the freeway to take care of an emissions problem when it happened. 30 passengers were injured. two of them are still listed in critical condition. and police say the bus driver

will be charged with a misdemeanor for driving with a suspended license. but you can just imagine the sense of panic early this morning. people scrambling to get off that bus. 52 passengers were onboard. they were tourists from canada headed to new york city. one woman onboard the bus told a canadian newspaper, their parents ran on the bus barefoot and just hads to keep running because their bus just kept blowing up. drivers who drove past the accident did stop to help. take a listen. >> upon impact, there was an explosion. and as i said, all the passengers, the bus driver were able to get off the bus safely. there was a couple of witnesses who rendered help. one notable witness is a sergeant for fort drum. his name is jacob perkins. as i said, h he's a sergeant, he's an e-5. he's in the 189th cavalry stationed at fort drum.

and he was able to get a few of the passengers off that bus safely. >> well, how about this part of the story, speaking of heroism, a soldier from nearby fort drum stopped and pulled people from that burning bus. coming up at the top of the hour, a missouri woman, a mother of triplets just disappears. police think her husband may know a little bit more than he's offering up. he says they're on a witch hunt. we're going to take you inside this mystery. cnn news room rolls on. 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure high protein. ensure! nutrition in charge!

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time for a "cnn equals politics" update. let's go to wolf blitzer. i know you and i normally talk about what's going on on the political ticker. i just have to ask you dwrour thoughts as we've been watching the situation develop out of the capital city of oslo in norway. you've been there. what do you make of all of this? >> well, it's pretty shocking. you've seen the pictures that our viewers by now have seen the pictures. more are going to be coming in fairly soon. so reminiscent of what happened in manhattan on 9/1 1. you see these people running from these buildings from downtown oslo in shock and the building destroyed . i was there after what happened in oklahoma city in 1995. t timothy mcveigh. i would urge everyone to be cautious right now. we don't know who's responsible for this. one individual, more than one individual.

we don't know if there's a political background. we don't know who did this. let the low law enforcement authorities in norway get the job done because i remember after the oklahoma city bombing, and you probably remember as well, brooke, we all jumped to certain conclusions. it was more home grown terror in oklahoma city than it was foreign terror, al qaeda related. then again after 9/11, we know who's responsible for 9/11. so let's see what the authorities come up with and then we'll be able to draw the conclusions. oslo is a great city. have you ever been there? >> i haven't. the closest i've been to that sort of neck of the woods is denmark. but i've not been to oslo. >> well, it's like copenhagen to a certain degree. very picturesque, a lot of history. the people are wonderful. very quiet. you never hear about it unless god forbid something like this happens. it's a real sad story.

my heart to goes out to all of those people. especially in that youth camp. do we have a number coming in? how many people were killed? >> we haven't heard any fatalities from the youth camp. now i'm hearing we've justice confirmed as you're asking nine to ten fatalities. eric, that's at the youth camp alone? that's at the uwe campyouth cam alone. that's also added to the seven reported fatalities from the oslo bombing. so that's a number, also speaking with a reporter on it, she's saying according to her sources it's likely the number will rise. you also have to keep in mind, and thank goodness this was a national holiday, so not as many people were at work in the 4:00 afternoon hour. but the fear, of course, is that people are still stuck in some of these buildings in oslo, that number will rise. >> so it's whorrific.

i was speaking to someone who said look, brooke, i had never feared terrorism until today. wolf blitzer, i'm sure you'll be all over this story as we will be for the next hour. thank you so much. and now, just about the top of the hour, take a look at this. the temperatures are rising and in some places they're breaking records. some states are bracing for possible blockouts. right now we've sent reporters to some of the possible spots. forget august 2. the deadline to reach a deal is already here according to some states. and as lawmakers play with fire -- >> what planet is he on? >> many americans could suffer big time. >> our little girl has touched so many lives. not many people can say in in this world. >> a mother of triplets dus appears and new clues are leading police to look at her husband, the one she's trying to divorce. >> i want her to come home

alive. >> what he said happened and what he's asking police to do. plus a place where humans live in cages and dangerous animals run wild. amber lyon goes deep into the rain forest to investigate the sale of exotic animals. 50 i'm getting out of here. >> and yep, you know, someone is always watching. you'll see what happens after these liquor bandits get creative. welcome back. top of the hour, i'm brooke baldwin. as we mentioned with wolf just moments ago, we're now getting new information on our breaking story, today's tor terror attacks in norway. police are now saying these two attacks are definitely linked. first, you have a massive bombing hitting the very heart, the city center of oslo, the capital city of norway. people running scared. inside one of the building was

the prime minister's office. we were told he was not there at the time the bomb went off. but as this very second, at least seven people are reported dead from that bombing. many still trapped and many more in what oslo's mayor is calling a terrible day for norway. and then hours dresses up as a policeman, walks into a youth camp attended by 700 people and open fired. we are just now getting a preliminary death toll in that attack. at least nine people are dead according to police. phillies also say that the same person detained in that youth camp attack was seen right around a government building at the time of the oslo blast. this is described as a tall man with blond hair and a in orderic appearance. he is still being questioned, so we expect much more information out of that inquiry. but i spoke to one of our

correspondents working this one, digging on this breaking story out of oslo, and she told me that the government is afraid there may be more attacks over this weekend. >> they're all so concerned, not only about those stuck in the building, but they're concerned there might even be further blasts. they're attempting to keep that downtown area clear. all they can do is issue warnings and hope people will stay away from the center of town, not only for this weekend, but throughout the weekend. they said that the safest place for people tonight is in their homes. >> do you even know yet if this explosion or explosions was detonated from within a building? or we're hearing that possibly it was a car bomb in the street. >> of eyewitnesses said they saw an incredibly mangled car, which would fit with how a car would look if it was used to detonate that kind of explosion.

those who say they saw it said it couldn't possibly happen from the blast. but they say it was such a big explosion, brooke, that most people's recollection is pretty shaken. police say they're trying to get bomb experts down there on the scene as quickly as possible to deal with that forensic evidence because the m.o. they believe will help point to what kind of organization could have triggered this attack. but at the moment, we've heard many conflicting reports. some eyewitnesses say that they believe that bomb could have actually been inside the lobby of the building where the prime minister's office was. but all still incredibly unclear at the moment, brooke. >> still no one coming forward, claiming responsibility for this? >> not at the moment. we've seen a lot of chatter on a lot of the forums, so you can appreciate, they see this as reason to celebrate. many are saying that this is in revenge for the bin laden killing, but nobody actually definitively claiming responsibility.

>> thank you so much. i want to go to the phone. ian dutton is a pilot for u.s. airlines. he was in a hotel close to the blast site. i understand you were in a hotel just about a quarter of a mile from the explosions and at the time you described feeling like your bed was struck by lightning. can you explain that? >> well, yeah. it's actually more powerful, the pressure wave going through your chest. we had flown overnight from new york to oslo. obviously the first thing you want to do is have a little rest. i was just waking up to go make an afternoon of it. and the concussion struck the hotel, shook it very vie vently. -- violently. it seemed like a combination of an earthquake and a lightning bolt, or a thunder blast. and so i got up immediately and went to the window. and saw this cloud of smoke and debris merging from the blah sa

area where the momming was centered. initially the feel you could see, it didn't look so much like panic as disbelief. people really were just in some kind of amazement that this really could not be happening. that was my initial reaction living in lo living in lower manhattan on september 11. >> how could this possibly be happening in my hometown, my city. how dare they. >> and oslo is traditionally a very safe, a very calm, a very civilized city. you don't right away assume it's going to be the target of this kind of an attack or whatever we had happen today. >> let me take you back to what happened right now. are you still in your hotel room? >> yeah, i've been down stairs and i'm back up right now. i'm on the 28th floor looking down into the site. i don't actually have a

ground-level perspective. >> but you can see the city. >> i see the buildings that were immediately impacted. and surprisingly, most of the lights are on in that 16-story government min strif building. -- ministry building. i don't see any signs of motion in the building, but if you didn't know any better, especially now that twilight is coming on, you might just think it was a normal evening in that building. when there was more light, you could tell there was almost no intact windows, there was debris hanging out of thele building. and the top of the building looks like it's warped. the top floor, all the windows are gone. i'm looking at the backside from the blast and i can see structural damage from where i am. >> from our understanding, despite the mangled mess you're looking at, a number of people are still in there and still stuck, but they have evacuated that city center, so that probably speaks to some of the calm and perhaps by now a couple of hours later, the smoke has dissipated.

final question, you know, you're in this hotel, feeling this rumbling 28 stories up. what's your sense from people in the hotel. is there a sense of panic in the hotel? what's the conversation like? there? >> not a sense of panic. it's really -- we don't feel that we're in immediate danger, certainly that possibility exists. there's maybe a sense of vulnerability. and i see the same processes that i went through going through september 11 and living in lower manhattan where now it's -- things are calm. they're eerily quiet outside. there's no traffic. they're diverting traffic away, no people really. so people might be wary. i don't sense panic. i don't think there's a sense that somebody's got cross hairs on our back as we walk about on the street.

but certainly there's a warin s wariness. >> i appreciate you coming in. stay safe. reach out to your family. i'm sure they want to know you're safe as well. >> my heart is out to the victim. >> mine as well. we have two separate incidents hooer. police are saying most definitely there are connected. you have these bomb blasts happening in the city center right around the 4:00 afternoon hour norway time. and then some hours and i'm not sure as far as the sometime line, you also have this shooting at a youth camp on this nearby island. i want to go to astrid rand, an nrk reporter from oslo, from norway on the line from me. and astrid, just bring me up to speed. i know we are learning here, nine to ten people killed in that attack at this youth camp. is that the number that you have?

>> i've been speaking to the youth who came off this island. there are report is there's more casualties. the situation is very chaotic and the police haven't yet confirmed any numbers. but the eyewitnesses i've been speaking to tell me it's more, 20, 30 people have been killed they are telling me. but it's not confirmed by the police. >> my god. according to police, from our information, this individual was disguised -- or i shouldn't say disguised. he was wearing a police uniform. and he's the one who open fired. this individual is now in custody and is being questioned. can you describe this individual to me? >> what i've been hearing, i'm

at a small village close to the island where all the youth now are gathered. i've been hearing what they have been telling me and they have been telling me that it was this man dressed new a police outfit who told the youth that he was going to inform them about the attack in oslo that happened in oslo. and all the youth were gathered in this hall at this small island when the shooting started. of course, there was chaos and panic and nay ran out of this hall and out. and some of the youth tried to swim off the island and off the shore. one of the boys i was talking to, a 19-year-old boy told me he was swimming out at the water, the gunman was pointing his gun at him. he could feel the shots right next to his ear, but he managed to swim away and the gunman turned around.

so it's a very dramatic situation. it's a lot of ambulances here. police cars everywhere. and we've been seeing that youth, young people at this camp -- >> how long, what are their ages? >> children. down to 14 years old. were at the youth camp for the labor party. >> there are reportses a trid that there a -- reports astrid that there are bodies floating in the water off the shores of this island. is that what you're hearing? >> i've been hearing that as well. i have seen the island from about 400 meters. i haven't seen bodies floating in the water myself. the police are looking for bodies in the water. many of the youth as i said ran off the island and started to swim. but the water was very cold.

we haven't found reports from the police. but we know many youth were shot at the beach. there were nine people at the beach that couldn't move. >> astrid, was it jooust youth? i'm hearing perhaps the prime minister was to be at this camp tomorrow. is that correct? >> yes the prime minister comes here every year. and today, the former prime minister of norway was speaking to the youth, but she left before the shooting started. the plan was that young people, the prime minister from norway from the labor party should be coming here tomorrow.

but than won't be happening. the youth are gathered here at the hotel close by. they were taik taken care of by the red cross band by medicaid. they're giving them blankets. i can see them through the window here. they're gathered together and i can hear some of them shouting. and there's tears and there's despair and it's a terrible situation. >> it is, if you're saying 20, possibly 30 people killed. bodies floating in the water. young people wanting to escape the wrath of this gunman and trying to swim in the frigid, frigid water off of norway. i do want to ask you, astrid, back to this gunman, the individual in custody. according to cnn reporting, he's being questioned right now. tall with blond hair, caucasian, described as having a nordic

appearance. do you know how police caught him? how they took him down. >> no, i actually don't know anything about how the police managed to get him. i know the special forces were here quick quickly. and there was also a helicopter here quite quickly but i don't know anything about the arrest. it didn't happen on the side where i was from where have i stand. >> also according to our reporting, this individual was spotted in and around the same area of oslo where the bomb went off. if you can, just help me because i'm not familiar with the lay of the land, how does one get from oslo to this island? and how long does that take? >> it's about 45 minutes drive. this island is about 45 minutes

drive from oslo out in the country side. so it wouldn't have taken him more than that to get out here. but there's a small boat to get into the island. and according to witnesses, the policeman was telling the security people, i suppose who is checking who you are and why you are going to the camp that he was a policeman coming to inform the youth about attacking oslo. so they were informed that he was -- and he was also showing some kind of id they have been saying. but again, this is not confirmed information. >> okay, astrid rand, i appreciate you unjumping on the form. nrk correspondent from oslo. thank you very much. this is very much so a doping story. we're getting more numbers.

it's been reported nine to ten at least confirmed, as that correspondent was telling me, possibly 20 to 30 children at this youth camp killed as this gunman who's now in custody simply open fired. much more on this story. be right back. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car

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[ male announcer ] time to check your air conditioning? come to meineke now and get a free ac system check and a free cooler with paid ac service. meineke. we have the coolest customers. >> breaking coverage on the terror attacks in norway. many injured, many, many others trapped in this burning and mangled billings in oslo. also right along this story, about a 45-minute drive from

there is an island. on that island, there were luns of youth. and according to my last guest, a correspondent from oslo, she was reporting according to witnesses 20, possibly 30 young people were shot by this gunman who is now in custody. describe as in orderic, caucasian, in orderic appearance. joining me now is tim lister. let's begin with that new information. the fact that this individual's appearance, this same individual was spotted also in oslo. what do you make of the fact that he looked nordic? >> in the first few hours after any such event, there's so much information or misinformation flying about that maybe i don't want to draw any conclusions. maybe it was good disguise. who knows. but the pattern of european jihadism over the past five or six years is that people in germany or sweden who are natives who go back generations have become involved in terrorism.

you saw it even in the united states with a young man who went across to afghanistan. he had no muslim background whatsoever, but he went to wage jihad. it's not unknown for europeans to become enamored of this international jihadist project. >> let me just ask a really simple question. why norway? why norway? and why can't we conclusively say yes, this is al qaeda or yes, these are international terrorists. >> we can't see inconclusively that it's al qaeda. it's so soon. there's one somewhat plausibility group to have responsibility that comes from a group in iraq that was connected to the stockholm suicide bomber in in 2010. it's plausible without being plausible. he posted a photograph of a young man literally hours after the stockholm attack before

anyone in the world knew who carried that attack out. so he did know. so that's a plausible claim. why norway? 5 million people, norwegian newspapers have repeatedly published the mohammed cartoons. there was a plot last year that was wrapped up in norway where at least one of the defendants has admitted they were going to go after one of the norwegian newspapers. there's a norwegian newspaper chain whose head offices are right next to the prime minister offices in thf part in oslo. so the cartoon business. people think oh, it's years ago now, it still goes on. people are still exercised about it. >> and wasn't that adjacent to some of these buildings in oslo? >> yes. that's another possibility. plus, the number one in al qaeda now, zawahiri has said norway will pay for its part in afghanistan.

>> in london, then before that, madrid. so it's been quite a while. >> which shows that this is a sophisticated attack. that this needed planning. >> why? >> this amount of explosives, you don't just pick that up. >> yeah. >> you have to be very careful. a lot of explosives are very tightly monitored now. you can't buy off the shelf the explosives that caused this kind of damage. they knew the norwegian labor party leadership would be in attendance on this island. this needed a lot of planning. so it would suggest that this isn't a lone wolf that could carry this out. it was a cell. there are people who have come from different ethnic origins and gathered together, whether they're uzbecs or iraqis, or

coming all over together. >> you're so right, though, in the hours after anything like this, there's a lot of misinformation and we can't jump to any conclusions. >> we can't. what we do know is norwegian security services at the beginning of this year said they were more worried than they've ever been before about the possibility of something like this .haing. >> and here it is. tim lister, thank you. now this. >> okay, what's going on here. >> what's going on here is that cnn takes you inside a world where humans live in cages and dangerous animals run wild. amber lyon and her crew had some skrar moments. coming up, we'll see what happened when one monkey attacked. coming up next, though. the deadline to come up with a deal on the debt ceiling is just 11 short days away. what about the divisions between the white house and the democrats.

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>> 11 days and counting until a possible default from the u.s. treasury. as we told you before, president obama is pointing out that the bills coming due are money congress has spent already. so joining me now from political, representative chris van holland, democrat from maryland. congressman, good to have you on. >> good to be with you. >> let's talk about your side. harry reed planned a weekend session to work on the issues so they don't have to go to work.

we also got word that your house democrats cancelled a news conference. has your side been told hey, turn the volume down. let the president and speaker boehner continue to talk in private. and would you expect them to reach an agreement possibly as early as this weekend? >> brooke, i don't think anyone has been told to turn the volume down, but it makes sense to spend this weekend allowing those conversations to continue. as you know, the president has had different groups of congressional leaders down in the white house. everyone is working overtime to try to put cork a deal. but it's not a deal yet. not by a long shot. everyone will be working overtime this weekend to try and wrap it up. >> so working overtime this weekend, but we might have a deal by the end of the weekend, sir? >> well, that would be the hope. but again, there's still a whole lot of woos hands. these aren't necessarily small high tems. they're big issues. the bomb line the president laid

out today was america plays their bills. american families can't decide not to pay the mortgage or the car payment and the united states should not state -- uh yo know, we're not going to pay our bills because that would have a terrible economic consequences in addition to setting the wrong example. and so we've got to get this done. >> let me ask you about your party. what was all the shouting about. >> what happened was there was these news wire reports that the white house was about to enter into a deal that was unbalanced. there was only going cuts, not the balanced approach the president has laid out. he's knead it very clear that any deal will involve cuts but will also require asking folks at the very top to share in responsibility for reducing the

debt. and so when these wire reports suggested that it was going to be a totally one-sided approach, not a balanced approach. i think temperatures rose. but there's a lot of rumors flying around the capital, as you might imagine. most of them are just that, they're rumors. there's no agreement yet. people are working hard to get it done. >> are congressional democrats demanding that the president pursue an up front tax on the top wage earnarners? and are you afraid the white house will only tax the wealthy down the road if certain debt reduction targets are not met? >> well, we've said the same thing that the president has said, which is that any balanced approach has to require a revenue component. and it has to be real. it has to be guaranteed. in other words, when you vote on the package that includes cuts, you have to know that the time that the revenue component will

kick in. whether it kicks in today or tomorrow or some other time. >> does it bother you if it kicked in some other time if it was simply a trigger mechanism? >> well, the issue, if there was 100% guarantee that revenue would be part of it, that's okay. but put it this way -- the spending component should be dealt with in a similar manner as the revenue component. there should be symmetry there. but the big issue is when you take that first vote, you have to have 100% ironclad assurances that the final product will be balanced. it can't just be we'll do the cuts now and have a wink and a nod hand shake. it has to all fit together. it has to be real balance. but when the president came out and said it's only going to be,

that got a lot of people upset. when you have such intense feeling, a couple of rumors flying through here can light a spark. >> it happens, but we know not to listen to those rumors, don't we, sir. are you committed to selling your members on any deal here? i know you talk about symmetry, but any deal the president might make with speaker boehner? >> well, no. every member reserves the right to vote yes or no. and certain ly members of the house aren't going to blindly follow any deal made by members of the white house. that's why it's very important that when they take on those neerkss with the house republican, if they're going to be reliant on house democrats, they need to make over the deal will win over whatever support they need. it's important the white house

not miscalculate in that state. the president has been consistent at saying they need a balanced approach. he was very clear today saying h ewould not agree to a deal that he did not have that kind of balanced and shared responsibility. >> he said pay the bill, pay the tab. thank you so much. >> and have you heard about this story, thistriplets. they're 5 years of age. they' she's been missing for seven weeks. she went to her husband's house to pick up their son on june 1. that's the last time anyone saw her. her car was found later near the interstate with a flat tire. earlier on that day, she met with her husband to finalize divorce papers. her family has been searching for her and has custody of their

three kids. her father accuses her estranged husband of killing her, saying this, quote, i know the threats that he's made against her and i know the diaries outlining threats. he did it. there's no doubt in my mind. but he says h he's innocent and now everyone is out to get him. let's listen to what he's saying. >> i can't change how people feel. i mean, there's a lot of emotions running high right now. just i just don't know what to say yet. i'm not sure to be honest with you. >> he sounds soft spoken, head down. what does that sound like to

you? do you believe him? >> i think there's definitely two sides to every story. he's proclaiming his innocence. he's saying i hope she's found okay. i'm praying for her family and her parents. i just really hope she's found and there's a peaceful resolution to all of this. but i've spoken with lieutenant barnes twice today, once within the last five minutes, brooke, and what he tells me is that he's a person of interest in this case. he's not been charged with any crime. he's not considered an official suspect, but he's someone they're zeroing in on at this time. i also spoke with the cue center. hundreds of folks will come out and search land, water, by air to be able to find this missing mother. >> as you mention, he's not an official suspect, though he is an official suspect.

he took off, came home two hours later, found her car gone. what do you make of his story. why would she according to him sort of walk away. and do we even know where he was in those two hours? >> we don't know. i think that's something authorities are looking into right now. sort of closing in that time line, figuring out exactly the moments where she was last seen. he was the last person to have seen her alive. at this point, we're still moving forward and hopefully she's alive and okay. but unfortunately this case reminds me so much of the sta s peterson case, the susan powell case. those are all four active investigations of sort of the same tale, you know, we're moving forward with these missing moms gone. their cases have sort of faded from the spotlight. i hope that isn't the case with this one. there's also another missing mom right now out of north carolina. so investigators, i spoke with

them today. they're still trying to piece that particular case. she's just a beautiful mom. >> she's a beautiful mom of three kids. >> they really just need something. folks, if you have any information, just pick up the phone, give investigators a call. they need anything at this point. i mean, we also have to take into consideration that mr. waller was a former police officer. i spoke with a lieutenant there. he was at the saxton police officer first, then switched, left around 10 months, got into some construction work. so he's familiar with police investigations and, you know, sort of handling these types of things. >> i appreciate you making those phone calls and coming on. as you mentioned, so many missing mothers right now. we'll stay on this one for sure. >> you got it, brooke. have a good day. >> coming up next, more news on our breaking story out of norway. we're just now getting word that boats right now are searching for bodies here in the water.

we're looking for bodies and freezing the pictures for obvious reasons. this is the water that's surrounding this island where that youth camp had been happening where that gunman open fired. one journalist says dozens of people, dozens of children could be dead. back in a moment.

>> welcome back. more on our breaking news. now the situation increasingly dire as we're learning more details on this nearby island. where many, many youth were at this youth camp. i spoke with a correspondent out of oslo norway to said 20, possibly 30 young people have been killed after this gunman open fired. thank you for stopping by here. let's begin with that situation. what more are we wlerning about these young people. it's not only a youth camp, but we know that senior officials and the prime minister were to be here tomorrow.

>> right. it's a camp ruled by the senior labor party. he was expected tomorrow. as if it weren't enough for norway to deal with after that explosion that killed at least seven people and left parts of downtown oslo looking like a war zone, soon after we heard. tragically, bodies seen floating in the water. the latest official count is ten dead. we're talking about the h youth here. they're all minors, all young kids who went on this retreat, this political retreat on an island and sending boats to possibly look for more bodies. >> several votes have arrived on the scene here.

tragically, bodies floating in the watter. the reason they're potentially floating in the water, is once this gunman open fired on these young people,hopped in the water which is freezing, freezing cold, to try to get away. >> they're an island, trapped, corn cornered. a suspect, by the way, is in custody and police are hoping he is indeed the gunman. but there are various reports. it's chaotic when this type of event unfolds. and this is a fast developing, breaking news story. and the question is, who is this person? is this person linked to the bomb attack in oz boy. police say they believe the two events are connected, but some people are saying they spotted the same person -- >> in oslo before. >> -- in oslo before this rampage took place. it's early days, of course, brook. the question now is who is

responsible? jihad digroups have already started taking responsibility. but are they taking responsibility for something they didn't do? is this domestic terrorism? is this something completely different. these are all questions that are going to have to be answered. but norway, a safe country, oslo, a safe city. everything is rattled now for norwegian ps. this is a day of tragedy for them. this is a day they will remember for the rest of their lives when norway was truly under attack. >> let's go back and if we can, show the images of it looks like a war zone in the capital city of oslo. several different buildings, just torn apart to bits. in terms of the sophistication of this bomb, we're labelling it a terror attack, according to people and intelligence community folks we've been talking to, it's highly sophisticated. no one specifically taking responsibility, although there has been chatter.

but thus far, norway is a pretty beautiful scandinavian nation right there on the water. one point made earlier, in addition to one of these buildings that housed the prime minister who wasn't there today and parliamentary buildings is the headquarters of the newspaper, the norwegian newspaper that reprinted the dpanish newspaper that printed initially that cartoon of profit mohammed which, as we know, outraged the muslim community. >> that was the norwegian newspaper that reprinted the cartoon of the prophet mohammed that was originally printed in a danish newspaper. everybody is trying to sort of find answers amid the i can i don't say here. and this is amateur footage from one oof our viewers we spoke to just a few hours ago. but if you see the actual building itself, the actual damage to the building the prime minister's office building, it truly gives you a sense of the power of the explosives. we don't know if it was a car bomb. there you have it.

this looks like something you would see in baghdad and something you would see in beirut during the civil war. this is what an extremely powerful bomb does to a city block. and brooke, there were prorts that the wreckage of a car was found outside of the prime minist minister's office. but if the bomb was in a car, there wouldn't be a wreckage of a car to look at. the question still is where was the bomb placed? this is still very much an open question. because if it obliterates half a city block, the car is gone. so if you see the wreckage of a car -- it could be very difficult to imagine it's that particular car. >> seven dead reported, confirmed deaths there in oslo. 10 at the youth camp. the story is unfolding. stay with cnn. >> it's really an unbelievably shocking story coming out of norway today. europe, main european target has been attacked today.

and everybody is really hoping to get more details on who's responsible for it. >> spoke with someone who lives there and said he never feared terrorism until today. thank you. now take a look at this. >> okay, what's going on here. >> i'm getting out of here. >> cnn takes you inside the secret world of exotic animal trafficking, including a rescue sanctuary are humans are the ones living in cages and the animals are out running loose. one of our producers was attacked. it got bloody. amber lyon is going to join me live to talk about this experience. don't miss this. [ male announcer ] millions of men 45 and older

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>> okay, now to an unbelievable world when dangerous animals run loose. this is all part of this upcoming cnn special. have you heard about this? amber lyon went deep into the rain forest in costa rica to investigate. she's going to join me live here in studio. but first, let's watch her piece. >>ed a don breaks over costa rica, a small town on the west coast, you can hear the eerie sound of a passing troupe of howler monkeys. an ma traffickers take anything from macaws to monkeys. they often become victims of abuse and neglect.

caged, chained, tranquilized or sometimes beaten into submission. >> i'm a certified jungle woman. >> those lucky enough to be rescued are given to carol cruz. >> you've got bite marks all over you. >> these are the badges of courage i wear. >> do visitors ever get chomped on by monkeys? >> on occasion, if they don't do what i say to do. >> come on, cruz runs this wild life rescue center that boreds a national wildlife park. what makes her center unique, it's the only one i've ever seen where the people live in cages and animals roam free. but freedom means my crew and i are at the mercy of the monkeys. >> these are very aggressive

monkeys. they're constantly moving around. which sf one of the reasons they shouldn't be kept as pets. okay, what's going on here. >> i'm getting out of here. >> the last guy that came through here, had to get 13 stitches. they call ate sanctuary tattoo. >> amber joining me now. you said it in the piece, this is a reverse zoo. >> yes. >> this is actually the rescue sanctuary, one of the only ones in the world where humans are in the cages. >> and they do it on purpose because the lady who founded it said her ultimate goal is to release these animals back into the wild because they' been trafficked and she wants them to live a normal life again. she says if she acclimates an intelligent animal like a monkey to a cage, it's going to be hard for the monkey to leave and fepd b for itself. so we had to run sometimes from cage to cage. sometimes we'll be standing there eating lunch and the monkeys would be on the outside

of the cage watching us. normally you go to a zoo, you're watching the animals eat. they were watching us. it was quite an interesting philosophy. >> i've been in costa rica, and they'll grab your sun glasses straight off your head. we saw a piece of you where you almost got attacked by a monkey. your producer steve? >> he definitely took one for the team. >> a spider monkey just had a grudge against men because she had been abused. >> had a grudge against men? >> yeah. she came and sat on his shoulder and it looks like she was friends with him. next thing you know, he turned around and walked away and got scar scared. that's why she runs this rescue facility. no monkey makes a good pet. we really learned how a tame monkey can instantly snap like that and attack. steve is okay now. i will say he didn't get

rabbies, any kind of weird diseases. he's doing fine. but it was quite shocking for us. >> let's tell everyone where we can all watch this. sunday night, it's an all new cnn presents, including your story here. and a closer look also at bull bullying and the hunt for a possible serial killer on long island. amber lyon, thank you very much. and "the situation room" coming up in a matter of minutes. wolf, the details out of norway, particularly at that youth camp just keep come coming out. i don't think tragic can really sum it up. >> yeah, it's heart breaking and we're getting more information even as we speak right now. we're going to be covering the breaking news out of norway. this attack, i think it's fair to say this is obviously a terror attack. we don't know who's responsible. some groups claiming responsibility, norwegian authorities are checking all of these games, there's obviously reaction here in washington as well. we'll follow the breaking news over the course of the next two hours.

we're also watching what's developing as far as the debt ceiling crisis is concerned. as you know, brooke, that clock is ticking and the stakes for all of us right now enormous. so we've got two breaking news stories we're watching very, very closely. >> all right, we'll see you in a matter of five minutes. thank you so much. and before we go, we have much more on the breaking story out of norway. as wolf mentioned, there's been reaction out of washington. we've heard from the president, we're also hearing a reaction from the state department. we'll get a live update from from ou on that. boy, i'm glad we got aflac huh.

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>> want to take you back to breaking news in norway. two deadly terror attacks. in one, at least seven people are confirmed dead in this deadly bombing in the capital of norway, oslo. at least nine are dead at this nearby island. foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is live at the state department. the state department condemning these acts of violence. what more are they saying? >> owhen anything like this happens the responsibility for the state department is the american citizens, their security and safety abroad. the good news, at least you could say, for americans is that there are no indications that any americans were killed or injured in those attacks. also the embassy in oslo has been issues an emergency message to americans, telling them avoid

the downtown oslo area. stay tuned to the local media for any updates on the situation. also remain vigilant and aware of your sour roundings. they did condemn it. they're calling it a despicable act of violence and also offering condolences and any type of assistance from the government of norway. so far, no indication the government has taken them up on that. there is a u.s. counterterrorism official who told cnn that there really was no indication, nothing that officials are h were led to believe was going to happen specifically in norway. and the indications from one official, also a u.s. official, are that this does not have the hallmarks of a big, sophisticated attack, but that it is very early to say who did it or for what reason. >> he's saying -- just to clarify, he says this does not have the makings of a big sophisticated plot?